The Los Angeles County job engine is expected to rumble to life this year with the first net gain in jobs since the Great Recession began in late 2007, according to an economic forecast released today.

The Los Angeles region should add more than 24,000 nonfarm jobs this year and will likely pick up 70,000 more in 2012 as the economic recovery gains traction.

The projected uptick in employment reverses a hemorrhage of job losses, including 63,500 eliminated in the last year alone.

“2011 is going to be a better year in terms of economic growth,” said Nancy Sidhu, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp, lead author of the 103-page economic forecast for 2011-2012.

“We will see more growth, in more industries in Los Angeles, and in more locations. We are not there yet, but the county is poised to start growing in the first half of the year.”

The LAEDC will officially release its forecast during a panel discussion downtown.

It includes a prediction of 3.1 percent growth in the national economy this year, spearheaded by expansion in China, India and Asia.

California will likely lag far behind, with nonfarm employment expected to inch up just .8 percent – for a gain of nearly 112,000 jobs. Unemployment is expected to slide from 12.4 percent to 12.1 percent.

Next year, however, California job growth is expected to increase by an additional 1.8 percent, pushing the jobless rate down to to 11.5 percent.

Leading the growth across the nation will be consumer and business equipment spending and exports, the LAEDC report said. But in the Golden State and Los Angeles, the most robust growth is expected to be in international trade, high-tech industries and tourism.

Other areas of statewide and local growth include private education and health care services.

In Los Angeles, which saw a 16 percent boost in film permits last year and 16,500 more jobs in Hollywood since late 2009, economists add entertainment to the economic mix.

In addition, the region will likely see improvements in retail sales and major construction, including federally funded improvements at the ports and LAX. Other projects include a new Civic Park and Broad Art Museum downtown.

Among the local winners this year are a projected 6,800 jobs in leisure and hospitality; 5,700 jobs in professional, scientific and technical services; 5,400 jobs in administration and support; 4,800 jobs in healthcare services and 4,300 jobs in retail trade, according to the LAEDC report.

Port traffic increased nearly 23 percent last year and is expected to jump another 6 percent this year and 5.2 percent in 2012.

Hotel business, which fell to 23.8 million overnight stays in 2009, is expected to rise to 26.3 million guests this year, thanks to large conventions booked downtown.

In the meantime, home construction will continue its upward trend after a 35 percent bump last year, to nearly 8,500 units this year and 13,000 in 2012.

“We’ve been swimming in the deep end of the pool for a long time, but our feet have touched bottom and we’re headed in the right direction,” said Robert Swayze, senior vice president of the LAEDC in charge of business development.

“The only (sectors) we don’t see any growth whatsoever is government.”

Indeed, the biggest local loser in 2011 is projected to be the loss of 18,700 government jobs, as municipalities struggle to balance deficits. The finance and insurance industries are expected to shed about 1,100 jobs.

Across the region, construction of commercial office buildings remains stalled, with building expected to drop 4.1 percent this year before rebounding 18.4 percent in 2012. High vacancies, declining lease rates and falling property values were also in store for commercial real estate in 2011.

In September, Orange County became the first metropolitan area in the state to add jobs and had the lowest jobless rate, 8.9 percent, by December. San Diego County was also on a solid road to recovery.

Some economists, however, were more bearish about the Southern California forecast, with at least one forecaster predicting a net job loss in Los Angeles.

The South Bay and San Diego areas will post strong growth in the high-tech and biotech sectors, said Bill Watkins, executive director of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

Considerable job gains across the Golden State will take place late this year and in 2012.

Ventura County, hit hard by the recession, is poised for a moderate recovery and a net increase of 2,100 jobs this year, with leisure and hospitality leading the way.

But Los Angeles County, which lost 383,000 positions since the recession hit in December 2007, will struggle to catch up. Watkins, who is expected to release his center’s economic forecast Thursday, predicted a net job loss of .5 percent for 2011, or up to 30,000 jobs.

“Los Angeles County is probably going to lag a little bit because of its more traditional industrial sector and remaining aerospace,” Watkins said. “We’re going to get job losses across L.A. County throughout 2011.”